The Huron Expositor, 1994-03-30, Page 22 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, March 30, 1994
Close-up
Frightening Phantom to combine drama, music
BY TIM CUNNING
Expositor Editor
On April 16 a pitiful, hideous
creature will be found inside St.
Thomas Anglican Church. The
Phantom of the Opera is coming to
Seaforth.
The Seaforth church will be
showing the classic 1925 silent
film, starring Lon Chaney, with live
organ accompaniment by Ross
McDonald. The London musician
will perform on the church's newly -
restored pipe organ, which first
came from Windsor (where it was
also used for dramatic accompani-
ment).
"It's like this organ is repeating a
little bit of its history," said
McDonald, noting the original silent
films were almost always accom-
panied by organ or orchestral
music.
This will not be McDonald's first
foray into accompaniment of silent
films. In fact, he was first asked to
play organ to a silent film about
five years ago in the United States.
He has performed to silent films at
the University of Michigan, West
Palm Beach (Florida) and in several
Jewellery stolen
from local home
The following is a report from
the Seaforth Police Services:
Daylight Break, Enter and
Theft
In the afternoon of Friday,
March 25, a house at the north
end of Main St. was entered and
a quantity of jewellery stolen.
The culprit kicked in a basement
window and entered the house.
Once inside they went from
room to room stealing rings,
bracelets, necklaces, watches,
and some silver dollars.
Victims discovered the break-
in upon arriving home at
approximately 6 p.m. Police
were called and an investigation
was started immediately.
----On—Saturday, March 26; a_
young offender was arrested and
charged with Break, Enter and
Theft. Only a few items stolen
have been recovered. A search
warrant was executed at a
residence. in the Sebringville
OPP area where the young
Orson is presently being held in
detention• fora court appearance
in April.
Thieves
captured by
constables
At about 2:45 a.m. on Sunday,
March 27 in the area of
Goderich St. West and Helen St.
in Seaforth, Constable Maydell
found two sets of footprints . in
the fresh snow leading from
parked car to parked car.
Constable Maydell followed
the footprints along Sparling St.
and through back yards of
Market St. On the west side of
High St. a youth was found
standing by an open passenger
door of a car. The officer was
within approximately 25 metres
when the youth yelled causing a
second youth to scramble out of
the car.
Both youths ran from the scene
with the officer in pursuit. One
youth was caught near the
Queen's Hotel. Constable Dale
was called out and both officers
went looking for the second
youth. The second youth was
apprehended by Constable Dale
on Highway 8 west of Seaforth
near the Kinbum Road. He was
riding what appeared to be a
new bicycle. Police request you
to report any theft from vehicles.
This investigation is ongoing and
charges are pending.
Both of these incidents
involved young offenders. "I
can't impress upon the citizens
of Seaforth enough to know
where your children are at night.
Lock your cars and watch your
neighbours' property," said
Seaforth Police Chief Hal Claus.
Area people attend
Uhler wedding
Mr, and Mrs. Arthur E 1 , La son
attended the wedding of their eldest
grandson Cameron Stewart Uhler to
Karen Ann Lorinczi on Saturday.
March 26. The wedding was solem-
nized at four o'clock in the after-
noon at Knox Presbyterian church
in Burlington. The reception VIM
held at the Polish Hall 2316
Fairview Street in Burlington. Other
family members attending from this
area were Jim and Marian
Finlayson, Brad and Teresa
Finlayson, Ken and Brenda Empey
(Auburn) and Brett hnd Janice
Finlayson. Karen was the youngest
daughter of Mrs. Nellie Lorinczl
and Cameron the eldest son of
William and Gail Uhler.
Canadian locales.
The church organist, who recently
finished work on a musical in Lon-
don, says The Phantom is an excel-
lent piece for organ accompaniment
because "a lot of people equate the
show with organ music." It's also a
pleasure to perform because it
alwaysddraws a large crowd, he
sai
To capably perform the music
along with the film requires the
musician to be very intimate with
its content. Playing organ uninter-
rupted for the entire 80 minutes of
the production is also a challenge
for any musician. Without the aid
of a backrest the organist must keep
one eye on the screen and one eye
on the organ.
"It's draining mentally and physi-
cally," said McDonald. "It takes
J
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS PHOTO
'Man of a Thousand Faces' Lon
Chaney, Phantom of the Opera.
quite a bit of endurance, you have
to be as fresh on the last note as on
the fust."
The life of the old-time silent
screen organist might seem glamor-
ous today but it was hard work, he
said.
McDonald's musical score com-
bines improvisation with the work
of classical music greats like
Strauss and Rossini. It also features
Bach's familiar Toccata and Fugue
in D Minor, often associated with
The Phantom.
The music played with the film
must capture the range of feelings
in The Phantom, from tender scenes
to scenes of horror. -
"You can really run the full
gamut of expression of sound," said
McDonald. "The music has to be
able to really scare people and
make them jump out of their
seals...other times it has to make
them want to weep."
McDonald was born to a musical
family in London and has been a
life-long musician himself. He is
organist and choir director at
Bishop Cronyn Memorial Anglican
Church in London.
The Phantom of the Opera will be
performed at St. Thomas Anglican
Church on April 16 at 8 p.m.
As well as the historic sounds of
an old pipe organ the crowd will
hear some state-of-the-art syn-
thesized samplings of orchestral
sounds. McDonald will play both
the electronic keyboard and refur-
bished pipe organ at the same time.
Audiences have reacted enthusi-
astically to the performances of this
film and music, he said.
"It's excellent entertainment
value, I don't think anybody will go
home disappointed."
We are pleased to welcome you to the new
The music is expected to add a
moving dimension to a film which
is already powerful due to the per-
formance of legendary screen star
Lon Chaney. Known as the 'man of
a thousand faces,' Chaney inflicted
great physical pain on himself
(using wire to expose his gums and
pull out the skin around his eyes) to
distort his face for the role of the
Phantom. A review of the film calls
the Phantom his "most poignant
and gruesome role."
Although the film was made in
the 1920's it still holds great power
for audiences today. The organist
who will be accompanying the fdm
in Seaforth calls it 'magic.'
"It has a real mystique even by
today's standards," said McDonald.
"In its day it must have had an
incredible impact."
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